Greater Vernon said goodbye to just under 1,300 participants as the BC Winter Games wrapped up on Sunday.
After being postponed in 2022, more than 900 young athletes plus their coaches and officials gathered in the North Okanagan from March 23 to March 26.
Athletes in Zone 4, or the Fraser River, topped the charts with a total of 99 medals.
In second place, athletes in Zone 5 (Vancouver-Coastal) took home 89 medals while Zone 2 (Thompson-Okanagan) achieved a total of 80 medals.
The W.R. Bennett award, which is named after former BC Premier Bill Bennet, was handed out to Langley karate athlete Derrick Cruz for athletic excellence.
The award recognizes one athlete at each BC winter and summer games who demonstrates athletic achievement and leadership. The award also includes a $2,500 bursary.
“We are so happy that Derrick is awarded with this generous award. Derrick’s achievements are a good testimony to his dedication, resilience, and persistence – and he does it all with grace, calm, and the best attitude ever at his young age,” said Fraser Valley Zone 3 head coach Kamelia Fard.
All the athletes, coaches and officials that flooded Vernon over the weekend represented 84 of 87 provincial constituencies and came from more than 120 communities.
Nearly 16,000 meals were served, 900 medals were awarded and over 300 hours of competition were completed across a dozen venues.
Athletes competed in alpine skiing, archery, artistic gymnastics, badminton, biathlon, cross country skiing including para, curling, figure skating, freestyle skiing, judo, karate, rhythmic gymnastics, ringette, snowboarding and wheelchair basketball.
The event was a success thanks to the dedication of over 1400 volunteers.
